Take Me Home

Title: Take Me Home - Part 3

Pairing: Josh/Drake, slight DrakexOC and JoshxOC

Fandom: Drake & Josh

Theme: #24 - Goodnight

Summary: Something happens to Drake after a gig.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drake & Josh.



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Just a quick note...I was on pain pills for the first part of this chapter. So...I think that my tense changes...but...at the same time it might not...ugh I don't know. I'm not good at judging my own stuff.



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There are times in Drake's life when he wonders about the what ifs. What if his father were still around? What if his Mom never met Walter Nichols? What if Megan wasn't his sister?



While he tries not to dwell on those thoughts for very long, it's hard not to when everything on TV is a rerun. He sighs, not even bothering to look up when he hears the door open. Though, when the weight that joins him on the couch isn't as heavy as Josh or Walter or even his mom, he turns his head.



Megan looks back at him and for a moment they are both silent before she grabs the remote from his lap and changes the channel.



Drake doesn't bother to protest, but sighs and slumps back further against the cushions.



"Mom and dad left for dinner." Megan says quietly, her eyes glued to the commercials playing out on the screen.



"Okay," is all Drake cares to reply with and he watches his sister for a moment.



He lets himself really think about her for a while. Her hair is so much darker than his, her eyes, too. She looks so much like their father it's unreal. Drake idly wonders if she ever looks at him and sees their mom. He doubts it, but it's an interesting thought, nonetheless.



Then, she looks at him. He knows she knows. Knows all of it. Knows everything that happened, even the parts that Drake can't remember. She knows he knows that she knows, too.



Her hand reaches across the cushions, turning his hand over so that her fingers can trail over his palm while her eyes turn back to the TV. She reclines comfortably on his couch and lifts her legs to rest on the table, legs crossing at the ankle, as her fingers slip between his and tighten on his hand.



Drake smiles, amusedly, because no matter how many pranks they pull on each other Megan is still his baby sister. The one person who will never truely judge him and who will always accept him by default.



"Make sure to let Josh take a shower first."



Rolling his eyes, Drake ignores that. If he pretends he didn't know anything, then he won't have to feel bad about it later. "Whatever."



Megan laughs, at the TV, just as the door opens and Josh steps into the room. Drake looks back at him and Megan's laugh dies almost instantly. "Hey, Josh."



"Boob."



Drake grins at the way Josh glares at the back of Megan's head.



"Hey, Drake...Megan." Josh says something else that neither of the Parker siblings can catch and then Drake's eyes are watching the screen again.



Megan is the first to move from the couch, her hand sliding away from Drake's as if it was never there in the first place and she flattens out the back of her jean skirt before turning to look at Drake.



Drake raises a brow in silent question as he lifts his arm to rest along the back of the couch.



"Take me to school tomorrow and I'll put on the makeup for you. The boob isn't good at it."



Drake pondered laughing, then decided against it when he looked back and saw the evil look Josh was giving their little sister. "Yea, okay." He smirks and she nods before heading for the stairs.



She pauses and turns to look at Josh. He looks back at her then she smiles innocently up at him. "I'd watch out in the kitchen if I were you. All kinds of accidents happen in kitchen."



This time, Drake laughs but nearly chokes on it and Megan walks out without another word or glance. Josh stares at her in her wake then looks to Drake pathetically.



"She's evil..."



"Nah," Drake says, shrugging.



Josh shook his head and moved around to sit on the couch with Drake. "Right..."



"So how was work?" Drake asks casually, eyes once again glued to the cartoon Megan picked out.



"Tiresome...Helen yelled at me for no reason." Josh sighed and slumped back, letting himself almost become one with the couch. His eyes closed and he nearly jumped off the couch when he felt something tickle over his arm.



Though, when Josh looked over, all he saw was a smiling Drake. When Josh looked at his arm the thing that had startled him was Drake's fingers trailing slowly down over the blue sleeve of is dress shirt. Drake's fingers ghosted over Josh's fingers then back, releasing a sensation that probably only Drake's fingers could. Josh couldn't hold off the shiver as Drake's fingers laced with his own and gave his hand a small squeeze.



If Drake Parker was that...Josh couldn't even find a word for it...then all of the girls at school had every right to say the things they said about him.



Josh looked over at Drake and bit his lip. Drake still hadn't told him exactly what had happened but Josh didn't have to know. Drake seemed okay enough. Josh had to admit the he would miss having Drake sleep in his bed, though.



"Hey, Drake?"



Drake looked over at Josh, looking curious. Josh had to smile and he just shook his head. "It's nothing..."



"Okay..." Drake said slowly before looking back at the screen.



Josh sighs and just relaxes back, not daring to move his arm or hand for fear of alerting Drake's attention to that area. So, he watches Drake. He's glad that it looks like Drake's black eye and bruise are mostly gone. It'll probably only be a couple more days and Drake will be back to normal, looks wise at least. Not that Josh minds the way Drake looks right now.



Other than the bruise and faint puffiness around Drake's eye, Drake looks exactly like he always has. His skin is almost flawless and his hair is perfect in the way it lays. Josh can't comprehend why it's seems like even right after waking up all Drake has to do is give his head a toss and run his fingers through the strands and it's perfect. Drake's eyes are no longer sad or worried or frightened like they were two nights ago. Now they are bright again with the thoughts and hopes of a young man who just knows he'll become a rockstar.



Josh finds himself tilting his head back as he stares at the way Drake's eyes reflect the blue of the sky on the screen and then suddenly it hit him. He blinked and pushed the thought away but itcame right back. A low whisper of possibility. A flicker of a lone star in the galaxy.



Then A commercial starts and Drake's head turns towards him, his lips parting in a subtle way that makes Josh lick over his own. Then, Josh looks into Drake's eyes again and sees the confusion and Drake's question gets lost somewhere, never to found again.



"Oh...watch out in the shower," is what comes out and Drake isn't exactly sure where it came from but he released Josh's hand and stood, heading downstairs to find something to eat.



Josh takes a moment to look at his abandoned hand before jumping up. "Drake!? Drake! What do you mean?!"



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It wasn't until Wednesday that Drake seemed to have completely readjusted. He asked a girl out. All of his bruises were gone. He still hadn't told Josh exactly what had happened, but Josh seemed okay with that. Drake wasn't so sure he was. Yet, there was still some level that knew that Josh knew so it didn't matter if he said it outloud.



Still, as he stood there, the cold water pouring over his body to help rid him of a problem, he wondered why he didn't let his 'girlfriend' do anything. She had practically started to anyway. Drake had just flipped out on her. Pulling the 'it's our first date!' thing when normally it wouldn't have bothered him.



Though, after leaving her in the theater and driving himself home, Drake started to wonder why it had bothered him. It wasn't like he was having graphic dreams of that night or anything. Though, when he tried it out on himself, he had tensed up and just couldn't do it. It was like his body was working against him.



He jumped at a knock on the door, grabbing onto the shower rail for support when he nearly slipped and fell. "What?"



"It's Josh! Are you almost done? You've been in there almost an hour!"



Josh rolled his eyes and tapped his foot against the floor. He wasn't really mad, but he was used to putting on a show like this. When Megan wandered past, he glared at her.



She shook her head, mumbling something about boy things before closing the door to her bedroom.



Josh sighed weakly when he heard the shower cut off and the metal hangers sliding across the rod. He turned back to their room and started up the stairs.



Drake emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, looking refreshed if nothing else and when he wandered up into his bedroom, there was Josh, laying on the couch, asleep. Drake felt a little amazed at how quickly Josh went from yelling at him to get out of the shower to sleeping.



Though, if Megan were to find him...Drake pushed that thought away and stepped more into the room, shutting the door behind him. He tossed the damp towel onto Josh's bed and headed down to the couch,leaning over the back and staring down at his brother.



His eyes traveled to the clock then back. It was sad. Josh was asleep before nine.



"Josh...Hey, Josh."



Josh opened his eyes slowly and stared up at Drake who gave his best smile. Josh sighed and returned the gesture before rolling on his back and moving an arm under his head. "How was your shower?"



Drake looked thoughtful for a moment then shrugged. "Wet."



Grinned, Josh shook his head before slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position. Drake hopped over the back of the couch and made himself comfortable.



"So...what are you doing this weekend?" Drake asked casually as he reached for the remote.



"Uh...working?" Josh said, his voice still waking up properly. It sounded slightly deeper than usual and Drake had to blink to make sure he was still talking to Josh and not some other man.



"Cool." Drake said sagely before he grew tired of flipping through the channels and tossed the remote back onto the table. "Okay, I'm going to bed!"



Josh stared as Drake hopped up and started towards the ladder. Josh shook his head and stood, grabbing Drake halfway up from behind and holding him in his spot. Drake squirmed but settled and turned his head back towards Josh. "What?"



"Why'd you want to know what I was doing this weekend?" Josh asked, looking at Drake like he was up to something.



Drake shrugged. "It was just a question..."



Josh decided against asking and loosened his arms but Drake didn't exactly move away. Instead, Drake turned around, facing his brother, hands on the rails behind him.



"Why? Did you expect me to ask you out on a date or something?"



It was hard to believe that Josh remembered to breath but whatever reply he had hoped of coming back with was choked back and all Josh could do was gasp dramatically.



Drake laughed and carefully edged the rest of the way up the ladder backwards, careful not to jab his knee against his shocked into stillness brother. "You're such a girl."



Josh sighed and frowned, leaning more heavily on the ladder now that it meant he wouldn't be leaning against Drake. "Am not."



"Okay, Mr. I-used-to-wear-dresses!" Drake said, waving his hands.



"I had a reason!" Josh protested but gave up soon after when Drake curled up on his bed and patted the free half.



This wasn't exactly normal, though, Josh knew Drake could be a very touchy person when he felt like it. Who was Josh to deny Drake brotherly contact? He rarely, if ever, got the chance to just sit beside Megan, but with Drake it seemed like the more time they spent together, the closer they got.



It made Josh happy.



Though, as Josh laid down on his back, eyes drifting up to the ceiling he sighed. Drake's bed was nice. It may have been just as nice as Josh's. Though, the thing that made it so special was probably the person beside him.



It felt like they had been laying there forever and soon Josh was asleep again. Drake pushed himself up slightly, leaning over his brother to check to see if Josh was really as asleep as he looked.



Their situation was odd in the fact that had their parents not met, they probably never would have. Drake would have went on being Mr. Popular. They guy everyone loved. Josh would have went on hanging out with his own friends. They probably would have never talked much other than the odd 'hey' shared in the hallway.



Josh shifted and Drake decided that Josh had, infact, fallen back asleep. The thought made Drake smile as he reached across his brother, clicking off the lamp by the bed. Sighing contently, he rested his head against Josh's chest and tugged up the covers from the bottom of the bed.



"Goodnight, Josh..." Drake whispered, leaning up to press his lips to Josh's cheek, eyes closing as he rested his head back on his brother's chest..



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A/N ...my brother totally inspired me to write this chapter. Not the incesty moments...well...omg. My head was hurting...and I was considering just sleeping because I felt so bleh. Then he came into the room, grabbed my hand and it was like...the sweetest thing. I mean...I just had to smile, you know? Me and Josh do love each other. In a family way.